Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by northaustin:

poured into the chimay goblet(dont ask why). pours a beautiful clear ruby/light mahogany with a finger of fairly even off white head. the head settles quickly, evenly, and leaves a stringy lacing.

smell: thin malts, with a hint of coriander.

taste: the taste is close to identical to the white ale in terms of spices. everything else is shoved to the side to make way for the coriander blitz approaching. there is a tinge of cinnamon which i like, and the ginger provides a nice aftertaste/encourages a slightly dry mouthfeel.

More User Reviews:

4.12/5 rDev +14.8%

This one has been sitting in my beer fridge staring at me for the longest time. I gotta drink this one or else it will start crying.

Appearance (4.25) : Pours an aggressive tan-beige head. I'm measuring about four fingers. Actually I have a tape measure sitting right here. 3 1/4". Impressive. Leaves lacing as it slowly recedes. The body is a dark honey color with about 30% opacity. Nice clarity on this one. Due to the massive head, the generous lacing, and the clarity of the dark body, I'm giving this one a solid 4.25.

Taste (4.25) : Well, this is quite interesting. The berry notes and the malt-heavy toasted grain play well with each other and are very loud. Hop bitterness is cheering from the sidelines, still present but kept on a margin by the barley and berry. The sour lambic-type taste gives it an interesting spin and the hops help balance out the malts nicely. It's very forward, very strong in the taste department, and for this reason it is a sipper and not a chugger. I will say, it is pretty impressive. I like the flavor, it's a true craft.

Overall (4.12) : If someone pushed this glass in front of me and told me it was from a top craft brewer, and they charged $15/4 pack, I would believe them. I would probably also try to find the beer to purchase it. This is actually a fine, fine beer and to think that Sam Adams made this is pretty incredible. It's got a great craft feel to it, a bit lambic and a bit festive, not too malty, not too hoppy, and that extra berry sourness just makes things interesting. The bottle talks about spice but I'm not intercepting any spice. Just good, berry, malty, hoppy goodness.

Edit : I see that this is a Bock. It is absolutely nothing like a Bock. I would knock the rating down but it's too good to do that. Approach it like a Bock and you'll probably be sorely disappointed. Approach it like a winter beer and you'll be jumping rope.

Have drank this seasonal over the last few years on tap and in the bottle,went out last night and had this on tap.Pours a brownish amber with alight but somewhat sticky head,aroma is rich and malty.The flavor has a nice flavorful holiday spice to it its a nice rich tasting brew,this beer is served at alot of the big name bar and grilles wich is great compared to most of there other offerings.A beer with some nice spiced notes and is slightly warming.

Appearance  The body of this lager is brown and very clear. The head frothed up quickly and laced the glass as it went down.

Smell  The grain here came out nicely, which is a welcome surprise from an American brewery. The cinnamon, allspice, and sharp clove where terrific, and the toasty malts created a solid backbone.

Taste  The grain reserved itself for the finish, giving me a joyful mouthful of heavily spiced beer. There were some good maple notes along with toffee and a hint of cocoa. The light herbal bitterness brought up the rear.

Mouthfeel  Thin but a little better than light-bodied with little carbonation. The body was a bit light in the ass for the big flavors in this beer.

Drinkability  This is a solid entry into the Winter Warmer style.

Comments: I didnt care at all for the 2003 offering, but the 2004 sample that I had was so above and beyond the 03 that I completely rewrote the review.

Pours a nice copper-amber color, decent clarity with a beige colored head that left a surprisingly nice amount of lacing. Nice mix of aromas on the nose, albeit overall very faint. Spices, malts, bread, yeast, cinnamon, orange zest, maybe a bit of ginger, and a slight hint of floral hops. Smooth and creamy to the mouth, starting off with a hefty helping of carbonation. First come the yeasty-bready flavors following quickly by the spices. The beer gives a nice warming feel and sensation, it really hits the "winter lager" feel quite well. Hops and bitterness are low, but still present in small amounts to balance out the heavy malt that is relevant throughout.

A tasty winter style lager, Samuel Adams usually does not disappoint. Easy to drink, fairly cheap, and highly sessionable. Drink this one next to a fireplace.

Look ~ a deep coppery brown. decent head: rose to about a finger or two; fell at usual rate with relatively little lacing. Clarity is excellent.

Smell ~ munich/vienna malt is really dominant with, which has very nice levels of caramel and melanoidin (I often find the former too high in bocks); some breadcrust in there; no burnt/roasted notes. spicing gives a bit of sharpness to the softer malt notes and plays really well. Any yeast aromatics play into the overall melanoidin fruit or spicing and aren't strong at all. no hops, no alcohol.

Taste ~ similar to nose. the malt was wot amazingly complex, but tasty. strong munich/vienna malts with great levels of melanoidin and caramel. some lighter breadcrust. overall, more delicate than many bocks. Bitterness and spicing come in at the same time in the finish: bitterness is light, good for balance; spicing is delicate, with cinnamon up front.

I really like all bock varieties and this is a solid offering by SA. Not as complex as some continental varieties; it is very tasty and more balanced than many others. Spicing is a nice addition to the style!